You don't have to be well to have fun

Our sweet, youngest daughter was sick this past weekend. She was sick Saturday during the night and Sunday morning. By Sunday afternoon she was better but still weak. She came downstairs to visit Dad and me, and then found herself too weak to go back upstairs. She asked for help to get to the stairs. This is how I helped her.



See the doggy/grandchild gate in the background? I even pulled her over that -gently! She loved it!

Mike and Emme

I've sent a few people to my future daughter-in-law's blog to see the pictures her dad took of Mike and Emme last week when he was visiting (and proposed). But, her blog is private, I forgot, so I copied and saved the pictures and here are three of them. It's very beautiful in Alberta right now and these two are beautiful all the time.







Emme is working hard to get everything done in the next five weeks. We are too. Bill bought our tickets to Canada today. Well, actually his and #1 daughter's tickets to Canada and tickets home from Canada for me and the other three daughters. We're driving up a week early with Mike and flying home. I wish we had room in our car to stop off and pick up Drew, but he might have a ride. Matt and his sweet wife are driving up, too. I'm so glad we'll have family there for the wedding and reception in Canada. A sweet (very sweet) lady in Emme's family ward is providing a place for us all to stay. We're so grateful. We'll all be able to stay together in this 12 bedroom lodge. The town Emme's family lives in has only 300 people so there aren't hotels or restaurants. This will make our stay so much nicer. I can't wait!

I went shopping for a dress for the wedding on Friday evening. After looking through hundreds of dresses online I knew pretty much what I wanted, but thought I might have a hard time finding it. It was only the second dress I tried on, so I was pleased with that, and that it wasn't very expensive. I also found the shoes in the same store, so I'm set. One daughter has her dress, so we only need three more.


(Those aren't the shoes. I had to order them and they'll arrive at the house this week.)

This is another exciting picture that makes it all the more real to me.

Sweethearts

The girls made sugar cookies tonight. "M" came and told me that I might not want to come out of the office and thoughtfully shut the door so that I wouldn't have to smell them.

It was kind of tough when I went to the kitchen later. But, just so that you see that I'm not suffering or going hungry, here is a picture of what I ate last night. I grilled the chicken with worchestershire sauce and lime and made extra for anyone else that wanted some. Most were eating leftovers from the night before. There's no picture of that because I couldn't eat it-pork roast with potatoes and carrots and celery. But Mike and I had the grilled chicken over salad and topped with chopped tomatoes, avocado, cilantro and green onions. I put a chili verede salsa on top of mine.



The limeade is also legal because it's just lime juice, water, and a sugar substitute called Truvia. It was deliciously sour.

I measured myself tonight and I'm not nearly as small as I want to be, but I've lost almost 12 inches total in my bust, waist, and hips. It's frustrating because I work so hard every day and I want to be a size 8 or 10 now! I just have to remember that I didn't put it all on in 3 months and it's going to take longer than 3 months to get it all off. So, I celebrate the victories and the milestones.

I got a pedicure this week to celebrate one month on Jenny Craig and over 20 pounds lost in all.



If your computer resolution is high enough you might see all the tiny marks on my feet. Those are just from wearing tennis shoes with socks all day.

The Good News is Out!

Mike became engaged over the weekend to a lovely young lady from Canada. Her name is Emme Skoien. They met at BYU-I a couple of years ago and have dated and had a long distance relationship since then. She has visited here in our home a couple of times and we thought maybe we had scared her off. But, I guess true love won out. They are tenatively planning to be married in March and probably in Canada in the Cardston, Alberta temple, but I'm sure if you're reading this blog, you'll get an invitation with firm details. We can't wait to travel to Canada and meet her parents.

Emme's parents emmigrated from Norway when she was three years old and they still speak Norwegian in their home. She is an absolutely beautiful girl inside and out. We are thrilled that she will be a part of our family. We fell in love with her the first time we met her. And she already has Mike well in hand.


So, just a few more pictures of our new daughter-in-law to be. I love getting children this way. And, I totally stole these pictures off Emme's facebook page. I hope you don't mind, Emme. But, you are undeniably gorgeous and I just had to show the world-well, okay, my four followers and you're one of them.






That last picture was made in Canada. How beautiful it looks. I'm looking forward to seeing the sights there. The girls and I plan to drive up with Mike a little early and fly back. It will be during spring break which is very convenient.
Mike and Emme will live here for awhile while Mike works and finishes his undergraduate degree and I can't wait for the wedding! And Emme likes to bike ride :) so I'll have another exercise partner. Thanks, Mike for having such excellent taste. My sons have all picked wonderful women. Thanks, boys. I told you all when you were young that I would love your wives, and you've made it so easy for me.

Sunday Scripture Study

Don't you love this picture of the girls at family scripture study?
It's so obvious that the 2nd daughter, who is 2nd from the right in the picture, does not want this picture taken. Look at the foot.



They'll appreciate that picture (and other things) more in the years to come. But for now, they sure are cute.

Bill and I performed a Herculean task yesterday. We spent half of Saturday cleaning our joint office. We love our office, but the papers and everything else get out of control sometimes (okay, a lot of the time). But, I am turning over a new leaf. Actually that leaf has been turned over a few times, so I guess it's an old, new leaf. But, nevertheless, I vow to open the mail as soon as I bring it in, sort it and throw out the trash. I also vow to pay bills as soon as they arrive and file them as soon as they are paid. Good resolutions. That will cut down on a lot of the clutter. Now if I chain the door to keep the kids and grandkids out, that will just about cover another big chunk of the problem. Really, though, I welcome them all in. I love this big office and the table we had made so that Emma or anyone else could do their homework in here and Bill and I could work on projects together, too. I just have to keep on top of things. Don't we all? Here are pictures of the beautiful office.








































Remember the happy news I told you I would have this weekend? Well, he looks happy:



Can you guess why?

Could it have anything to do with her?

Wonder what the weather's like in Canada?

I haven't posted in February, yet!

Quote for the day:
"Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity." Louis Pasteur

This week's weigh-in was not very excited. I lost 1.5 pounds, but that seems so little after what I've lost each week. I know it's because I didn't exercise enough, so I set a goal this week to add two days of kickboxing in addition to my regular three workouts with the trainer. And, I plan to make sure that I get my bike rides done as well. I've already done the kickboxing twice and the biking once, so I'm on track. I'm tenacious!

I'm looking forward to posting some news this weekend. I'll have to keep you in suspense for right now, though. No, not even any hints.

The Last Three Days

I'd like to say the last three days were a blur, but unfortunately I remember them in vivid detail. I love the smell of chlorine in the morning. Or, at least, I'm very used to it. I spent most of the time here:
I left the house at 7:30am on Friday and Saturday. I didn't get home until 9pm on Friday and 7pm on Saturday. You know I wouldn't do this if I didn't enjoy it. I complain, because it does get tiring (especially after three days), but I love the people I associate with. There are so many great people involved in swimming. One of the parents wrapped my foot with kinesiology tape so it wouldn't hurt to stand on the deck for so many hours, one of the girl high school swimmers gave me a hug and thanked me for all that I did that weekend and another girl gave me a rose from her bouquet to thank me. I think the cream of the crop are the officials I work with. It makes sense, I guess, that people who are willing to volunteer years of their lives for others have more elevated natures. Whatever the reason, these are people of high calibre and it is an honor to work with them.


Friday morning it snowed! I love it when it does that. I know it's not so nice for those who have it everyday for months, but for us it's like..um..Christmas. I only got to take a couple of pictures before I had to leave.
















I was so very tired when I got home Saturday. I immediately got into my pajamas and ate my JC supper. Fortunately, I opened Facebook to show Mike something and noticed that we were missing the wedding reception of some dear friends of ours. So, Bill and I hurriedly dressed and wrapped a present (I keep all kinds of presents on hand so we aren't caught without a present to a wedding or baby shower or birthday.)and drove to the Stake Center. It was a lovely reception and I was glad we hadn't missed it. But, afterwards we had to go grocery shopping and by the time we left the store I could barely walk. I got a text that I was supposed to be teaching the next morning. I thought someone else was doing it this Sunday. Luckily, it wasn't a tough lesson, so I got it prepared before I went to bed.

When I awoke this morning, though, I wasn't very cheerful about getting up. I groaned a lot and when Bill tried to kiss me good morning, I grouchily said, "Don't touch me, I don't want to talk." Poor guy. After my shower I was much nicer. But, because I didn't get up early, neither did the kids. We got to church late and sat in the foyer. I hate doing that, but Bill and I enjoyed watching our kids across from us.